Biophysics and Chinese Medicine

Biophysics involves applying physical laws to biological systems. Using the tools of science, it looks at the minute structure of our system to understand the biomechanical activities of our system. Scientists mainly use logical reasoning to understand and develop techniques to further that understanding. Their logic is fostered by imagination, creativity, diligence, and previous and concurrent work by other scientists. They strive on predictability and repeatability. Because biophysics is immensely complex, bio-scientists tend to focus on a tiny segment of the whole system. For example, my friend is a biochemist who has spent over 8 years studying genetic recombination of a yeast protein.

Chinese medicine has its own system, albeit it looks at the holistic aspect of the living system. Compared with modern bioscience, it appears somewhat primeval. Its modus operandi resembles that of an imperial court. There is a king, minister, general, officials, etc. Each major function of the system is ruled by one of these individuals. For example, the emperor is the heart. It infuses its regal fire into blood causing the heart to be red and full energy. The heart is the ruler of the mind and the entire body. The heart knows everything about the body; hence doctors take pulses to tap into this knowledge. Yet, it doesn’t leave the palace because it has a minister (pericardium) who goes out and carries out the heart’s directives. The heart rules the mind; for that reason, when a person cannot sleep, it’s common to look at the heart.

There is some element of faith in the Chinese system; e.g., it doesn’t spend much time in trying to understand why the heart is the king. It accepts this premise and proceeds to use this knowledge to provide treatment. There is a Qi, which is an amorphous force that has the ability to transform, transport, warm, defend, and control. There is blood which acts as a river providing Qi and nutrients to myriad regions of the body.

With a few rules up front and understood, there are biophysical semblances in Chinese medicine. It essentially boils down to balance of qi and blood, of yin and yang, of mind and body, of motion and stillness. If something is weak, augment it; if it’s too strong, sedate it; if it’s stuck, invigorate it; if it’s too wet, dry it; if it’s too dry, nourish it. Doctors who understand these rules will then use creativity and imagination to direct Qi and blood to heal patients, very much similar to scientists who attempt to activate certain chemicals to catalyze a certain process.

I am a living system....

I am a living system because I have the characteristics and attributes of an organic organism: I was born, I breathe the air, I require nourishment, my system has mechanisms to assimilate nutrients and eliminate waste, I can adapt and respond to internal and external conditions, and I can reproduce to perpetuate my species. And yet, to me, this is not enough. I recall a quotation from Jack London, “The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.” Hence, a developed and advanced living system really lives, not merely exist in the world.

I am a living system……this is a very difficult question when we examine the first word: “I.” It presupposes that I know who “I” am. I have often contemplated this question. Many years ago, I spent a week at a Buddhist monastery looking into a koan “Who am I?” We were to watch our mind with razor sharpness and laser-like concentration to identify the origin of a thought and from that place probe deeper into it until we find a guy “who plays a flute with no holes.” To this day, I am none the wiser nor closer to knowing myself. And yet, part of being a living system is that we have the capacity and the curiosity to look into our own existence to gain awareness of how we came to be, what gives us “meaning” in life, and reflect on the inevitability of our mortality.

Perhaps all of this existential cogitation is biology’s stratagem to keep us engaged in our lives and help us evolve into the next phase of “punctuated equilibrium.”